Sahara Desert covered in 15 inches of SNOW as freak weather blankets sand dunes

This 2016 picture of snow in the Sahara Desert shows the vast difference in snowfall this year

"The high pressure meant the cold weather extended further south than normal." Ain Sefra is about 1,000 metres above sea level and surrounded by the Atlas Mountains.

Its average temperature for January is 6C, with average lows at -0.3C.

The Sahara Desert covers most of Northern Africa and it has gone through shifts in temperature and moisture over the past few hundred thousand years.

Although the Sahara is very dry today, it is expected to become green again in about 15,000 years.